Sewage-flow regulator



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 H L MCMILLAN SEWAGE FLOW REGULATGR FiledrApril 29, 1921 Amai 7, 1925.

v 1,532,829 H. L. Melvin-.LAN

SEWAGE FLOW REGULATOR Filed April 29A,A 1921 S-Sheets-Sheei: 2

et l

April 7, 1925.

H. L. MCMILLAN SEWAGE FLOW REGULATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledApril 29; 1921 NJN.

To all fwwm it may Patented Apr. 7, E25,

or cae,

Es-WAGE-FLOW REGULATOR.

Application lle, April 9, 19221. terial No. ett.

the ow of liquid to a collecting or intercepting conduit is automatically regulated so as to preclude a flow from a main to a collecting conduit in excess of a predetermined maximum. volume. As illustrating one adaptation of .my invention, l have shown it herein as applied to a sewage system, but it should be understood that it is capable o a variety of uses.

ln municipal or other systems of sewers ot the' combined type, that is, in which both ordinary sewage of domestic and trade wastes and also storm water from streets, roofs, etc., mix in the sewers during storms and flow together towards the sewer outlet, it is oommon practice to employ a system of intercepting or collecting sewers connected at various convenient points to the main sewers and adapted to intercept the dry weather flow in the yrnain sewer and direct this flow through the collecting sewers to sewage pumping stations or sewage treatment works, or both, as the case may be.

' When storms occur, which greatly increase the flow through the main sewers over the ordinary dry weather iow, the increased head in the main sewers, produces an increased flow to the collecting sewers, with the result that this storm ilow which is rather dilute in character will, unless provision is made to prevent such result, surcharge the collecting sewers to an extent which will preclude their reception of the more concentrated dry weather flow from an area which may not have been affected by the storm. Consequently, thecollecting sewers deliver to the pumping stations or treatment works, a quantity of dilute sdwage, while the more concentrated sewage is caused to back up in the main sewer and'is delivered from the sewer outlet into the stream or other body of water into which-the main sewer delivers and which is not intended to receive large quantities of concentrated sewage, and very unsanitary conditions inevitably result.

which the following is a specilica- Furthermore, without adequate iow regulation between the main and intercepting sewers, thevintercepting sewers will be tilled to ca' acity during storms and will oonse- @o quent y deliver a greater dow to the pumping stations or treatment plants than these stations or plants are capableof taking care @ne of the primary pur oses ot my present invention is to provi e a sewage dow regulator between the main and the intercepting sewers which will automatically regulate and control the main to the intercepting sewers will receive all ot the dry weather Atiow, which they are designed to deliver to the pumping or treatment plants, but when storms occur, the flow from the main to the intercepting sewers 75 will be so regulated that only a predetermined maximum volume of flow will be permitted.ya thereby insuring that the intercepting sewers will not be surcharged in any storm area so as to preclude their reception S0 ot the concentrated sewage from an area not affected by the storm, and also precluding 'the delivery to the collecting sewers of an aggregate volume -in excess ot that or which the pumping or treatment plants were designed.

ln sewage systems, in which the grades are small so that the normal dry weather flow is comparatively slow, a considerable quantity of refuse and solid matter will tend to deposit and collect along the bottoms of the sewers, but when a rush of water resulting from a storm occurs, these deposits will be quickly stirred up and carried along with the rush of water through the sewers. `these deposits are of concentrated character,

and should be delivered to the collecting l sewers and eventually to the pumping stations or treatment plants instead of being permittedto main sewer, it is desirable that the regulators permit an initial surplus flow from the main to the collecting sewers during a storm priod to thereby insure the delivery of much oand after such delivery has been effected, or the collect-ing sewer is in danger ot being surcharged by the surplus flow, the volume of' flow from the main to the collecting sewers should be cut down to prevent sur- Il@ charging of the collecting sewers.

jOne of the ob]ects of my invention is to the How of sewage from the intercepting sewers so that l@ Since flow to the outlet end of the 10 these deposits into the collecting sewers, 1

' maximum.

provide a regulator which will automatically tahecare of the conditions above out1 lined by permittin an initial surplus discharge into the codecting sewers sucient to deliver to them much of the deposits and concentrated sewage which accumulates in the sewers during aV protracted dry period and thereafter to restrict the volume of flow from the main to the collecting sewers when the level in the collecting sewers reaches a predetermined height so as to thereby prevent overchar ing of these collecting sewers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a regulator which will permit an unobstructed and steady ilow of dryjweather flow and storm mixtures up to the predetermined maximum with no a preciable loss of head other than necessary oss in deflectine the flow from the main sewer into the co lecting sewer, except when dealing with very slow velocities of flow, thereby providing a continuous and unobstructed conduit for all flows up to the predetermined Furthermore, my invention aims to permit a continuous flow which Vwill keep the grit, sediment, etc. moving so that it will not collect and interfere with the movement of the regulator.

Another object of my invention is to provide a liow regulator which will be simple in construction, economical to manufacture, one which will be strong, durable, reliable and eihcient in operation, and' one which will not be liable to' get out of order or become clogged or rendered inoperative by floating or other objects which are carried along by the sewage.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of my invention should be readily appreciated by those skilled in ther art as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through a sewer connection equipped 4with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 is a similar view on the line 3--3 of llig. 1; and

Fig. el is an enlarged sectional view similar to Fig. l showing a simplified form of my invention.

Referring new to the drawings more in detail, reference character 5 indicates generally a chamber interposed in the connection between a main sewer and an intercepting or collecting sewer. The inlet passage 6 connects with the main sewer which is equipped with the usual dam for diverging normal dry weather flow in the connection, and the delivery passage 7 is connected with a collecting or intercepting sewer 8.

rasata@ be intercepted forms a continuation of and is of no greater cross-sectional area than the inlet opening and that portion above said water level is of. suitable dimensions and proportions to accommodate theregu- Vwater evel of the maximum quantity to lator, the, construction of which will now- 'I be described. I

Referring first to the form of the inventionl disclosed in Fig. 4, the chamber is provided near its downstream end with a transversely disposed partition or diaphragm 12, preferably disposed at an inclined position as shown, and. spaced from the floor of the chamber a distance suiricient to ermit the free flow ofthe maximum desirable sewage flow therebeneath and extending upwardly higher than the maximum storm water level in the main sewer.

SuiiicientN space vshould be aorded between the top of the diaphragm and thev ceiling of the chamber to accommodate the working parts as will hereafter be apparent.

The side walls of the chamber converge downstream from a point upstream of the diaphragm to a point approximately in vertical alignment with the lower edge of the diaphragm, providing a restricted waterway 13 beneath the diaphragm, as will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 3. These inwardly converging tapered walls 14 and 15 are so shaped that the waterway is trapebottom, and their downstream edges are disposed substantially at right angles to the direction of flow through the waterway so that the side margins of the tace of the-gate 16 are disposed downstream from and behind but closely adjacent to these edges of the walls, thus adording a measure of protection against leakage between the gate. and the edges ot these walls below the diaphragm. Furthermore, the restricted waterway immediately beneath the gate increases the velocity of flow at this point, thereby permitting the employment of straight line instead of curved walls,and a narrow instead of a wide gate which would otherwise be necessary in cases where velocities are very slow.

f The gate is formed from a metal plate 17 suitably reinforced and braced at its downstream side, as indicated at 18, and the lower edge of the gate is preferably rearwardly turned, as indicated at 19 to prevent lodgment of solid matter on, this edge and to facilitate the How control. It will be ap-v parent from Fig. 4 that the upstream face of the gate is disposed closely adjacent to zoidal in form, its top being wider than its EN i the lower edge of the dia hra tion of the gate against the rod ory pins 26 and wagens 1a, which or t gate in its serves as a partial guide prevents undue vertical movements, and leakage between the diaphra Downstream from the diap ragm there is provided at each side of the chamber, a guide roller 21 which holds the lower pormovement downstream and serves as a guide for the gate in its movements. Guide arms 20 pro'ect upwardly from each side of the gate etween a pair of guide rollers 22 and 23, and it will therefore be apparent, that' these upper guide rollers, together with the lower rollers 21 and the lower edge of the diaphragm serve to guide the ,gate with a minimum of friction in its vertical adjusting movements. Substantially above the upper edge of the diaphra 12, there is provided a ulcrum hearing or. bearings 25, in this instance ixedly' attached to the ceiling of the chamber, and in these bearings, there is fulorumed upon a cross rod or a pair of pins 26, a bell crank lever comprising the long arm 27 extending uistream and the short arm 28 extending ownstream. The bell crank lever is referably bifurcated so that it is fulcrum at two spaced points upon provides a pair of arms 28, each of which is connected with the gate 16 near its side edges by a link 29 pivoted to the arms 28 at 31 and to the gate at 32. rlhese links are of turnbuckle construction, atording an tion between the gate and the bell crank lever by which the vertical position of the gate wlth respect to the lever may be adustedA and the gate trued to insure against inding or sticking in its movements.

The long arm 27 ofthe lever is 'adjustabl connected at its outer end to a lioat 33, which may be of any preferred construction, but preferably,is made of hollow steel and of such weight that it will float about one-half submerged inJ the 'chamber on the upstream side of the diaphragm. This float is suicientl heavy tol counterbalance, through the ll crank lever, the gate 16, `and as the iioat lowers of the water inthe chamber, the be lifted'by the level, the float will assume the lowered position and the gate the upper position shown in fullv lines in Fig. 4.

In the event of storm,

gate will the increased flow from the main sewerl into the chamber 5 will cause a rise of water in the chamber on the upstream vside of the diaphragm 12 since the lower edge of the gatel is disposed at a lower levell than the top of the deliecting dam in the main sewer. Whenthe inlet passage `is delivering into the chamber at capacity, a predetermined volume of sewage will flow through the waterway 13 beneath the elevated gate, and as the water rises 1n and the gate..

`iin the adjustable connec with'decrease in headfloatv until at low watery the chamber, this dow would increase as the result of the increased head provided the waterway .beneath the gate remained ot undiminished size. As the head rises, however, in the chamber, the float 33 wiil be carried upwardly, thus causing the gate to be lowered and the proportions between the arms `27' and 28 of the bell crank in conjunction with the toggle action between the arms 28 and the links 29 will so proportionately diminish the area of the waterway by the lowering of the gate that a predetermined inverse ratio between the velocity resulting from the increased water head chamber and the size of the waterway will be maintained, which will at all times preclude more than the predetermined maximum volume iiow beneath the gate. rihis maximum volume iiow is so calculated that overloading of the collecting sewer is prevented, and the surplus storm water therefore, instead of being permitted to surcharge the collecting sewers, is restrained and caused to continue through the main sewer from which it is discharged at the delivery end of this sewer `wit lout overloading the collecting sewer or the pumping or sewage treatment plantes-tito which the collecting sewers deliver.

The low water position of the dont and the rate is shown in full lines in Fig'. 4,

from which it will be Observed that the gate gate. After vthis pointl has been reached,

the further rising of the water level will elevate the floatv which, through the compensating bell crank lever and the toggle connection between the lever and the gate causes the gate to be lowered. The restriction of the waterway resulting from the lowering of the gate however, will not be directly proportional to the rising move-` mentof the float, but will be such that the area of the waterway will change in ratio* inverse to .that in which the rise in water head in the chamber would increase the volume of ilow through a waterway of fixed area. The lowering movement of the gate therefore, is so related to the rise in head chamber y vthat the volume flow through the waterway beneath the gate will not'be permittedto exceed a maximum desired predetermined flow irrespective of the water level in the chamber. Consequently, the fiow from the main sewer to the collecting sewer is efficient-ly and accurately controlled so as to deliver only a predetermined quantity of water How to the collecting sewer, thusinsuring against overloading of 'the collecting sewer and the pumping or les treatment plants.

Since as previously stated, in sewer systems 'where the grade is slight and the normal dry weather sewage flow is consequently 1t-slow speeds, a considerable quantity of solid matter and deposits will collect upon the floors of the sewers during protracted dry weather periods, which deposits or accumulations will be stirred up@ and moved through the sewers by the initial flush of excess water resulting from a storm or the like, it is desirable that these deposits be delivered to the collecting sewers instead of being caused to continue to the outlet end of the main sewers. With this end in view, I have devised an auxiliary control for my improved regulator, which will retard the controlling action of the regulator until much of .this initial flush of concentrated sewage and accumulated deposits has been delivered to the collecting sewer, whereupon 'the' regulator will be brought into operation to restrict and control the flow to the collecting sewer, as previously described, thereby preventing overloading of the collecting sewer.

This' auxiliary control is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, by reference to which it will be observed that the bell .crank lever fulcrum bearing, instead of bein mounted direct-ly on the ceiling of the e amber, as shown in Fig. 4, is carried by a bifurcated lever 34 fulcrumed at one end in bearings' 35 fixed to the ceiling of thechamber. Intermediate its ends, this lever is equipped with dependin" ears 36 to which the bifurcated bell cran lever 27 is fulcrumed upon pins 37, and the downstream end of the lever 34 is connected through a link 38 to a piston 39 disposed within a cylinder 41 mounted in any convenient manner, such for instance as upon a ledge 42 of the chamber, (shown in Fig. 1). The piston 39 is adapted to be hydraulically operated, and the upper end of the cylinder is accordingly connected by a pipe 43 with a four-way cock 44, the lower end of the cylinderbeing similarly connected to the valve by a pipe 45. A water supply pipe 46 connected to the city main or any suitable source of water supply under pressure, delivers water under pressure to the four-way cock, which is controlled by u float 47 disposed-in the collecting sewer 8 so as to deliver water either above or below the piston 39 through the pipes 43 or 45, depending upon the height of the sewage level in the vcollecting sewer. Preferably the" float 47 is 'adjustably connected to the cock 44 in order that the valve may be actuated at different water levels in the collecting sewer, thus `affording a range of adjustment to meet various conditions or requirements.

Normally, the dry weather ilow does` not fill the collecting sewer anywhere near to capacity, and the float 47 will aume the position shown in dotted thereby positioni 1| the cock 44 so that the water pressure wi l5 be delivered from i 46 through pipe 45 to the under-side ofptli: piston 39, thereby holding the lever 34 in the elevated position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, with the ate 16 elevated to its maximum height an the 'oat- 33 in lowered position, the ceiling of the chamberv 5 being in this instance somewhat higher than the chamber illustrated in Fig. 4. The gate in its upper position will permit a flow beneath it somewhat in -excess of the'normal desired maximum. At the beginning of a y storm therefore, the initial flush of excess water through the sewers which will carry with it the concentrates and deposits previously mentioned,` will be permitted to flow beneath the gate to the collecting sewer. As the water level in the chamber rises, the gate Wil-l be lowered by the float 33, but b reason of the elevated position of the bell crank lever fulcrum, the flow beneath the gate is still greater than the desired normal maximum so that adequate provision is aforded for the delivery to the collecting sewer of much of the accumulated deposits and the concentrated sewage before the flow is restricted to. the desired normal maximum. This restriction takes place when the duid level in the collecting sewer 8 has reached a predetermined maximum, for which the float 47 has been set, and when this level is reached, the float 47 will be raised to the full line position shown in Fi 1, thus cutting oil' the water supply throu l the pipe 45 and admitting water above e piston 39 through the p1 e43. The cock,

44 may be so constructe that when the water supply to the pipe 45 is shut olf, this pipe may drain back through the cock, and

lines in Fig. 1,

s1miiarly, when the water supply'to the tpipe ack 43 is cut olf, this ipe may drain through the cock. T

erefore, with hydraulic pressures exerted upon the'upper face of the piston, this piston will be depressed into the full line position shown in Fig. 1, thus lowering the lever 34 to move the bell crank lever fulcrum downwardly, with the result that the gate will be lowered and will be subjected to the complete normal 'control of the float 33, thereby restricting the flow through the waterwa beneath the gate to the predetermined esired' normal -maximum. A

When the storm has passed and the level in the collec-ting sewer has receded, the float 47 will again lower, thereby causing the piston to be elevated and restoringthe parts to their normal osition, where they will remain during ry weather How but upon the next storm, will be automatically brought into operation to restrict the flow to the collecting sewer after the 'initial excess flush of storm water has been permitted to carry the accumulated deposits into the collecting sewer.

t 1s believed that the construction, mode of operation, and many of the attendant advantages of my invention will be readily appreciated and understood without further description, and while I have shown and described preferred embodiments thereof, it

should be manifest that the details of construction and the size, shape, arrangement and proportion of the various parts may be varied within wide limits without d'eparting from th essence of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a flow regulator, of a chamber, a control gate therein, a ioat in said chamber, a bell crank lever fuld crumed in said chamber, the 'long arm of said lever being connected with said float, and a toggle connection between the short end of said lever and said gate, said bell crank lever and said toggle connection being proportioned to close the gate upon rising movements of the float inversely proportional to the increased lflow through a fixed opening resulting from an increased water head.

2. In a flow regulator, the combination of a chamber, a transversely disposed diaphragm therein, a vertically movable gate, a float on the upstream side of said diaphragm, a bell crankY lever, an adjustable connection between said lever and said float, and an adjustable connectionv between said lever and said gate so proportioned and arranged that equal successive movements of the float will produce variable successive movements of said gate.

3. In a flow regulator, a chamber, a transverse a restricted waterway phragm, a vertically movable gate adapte to control said waterway, a float on the upstream side of said diaphragm, a bell cran lever, an adjustable connection between sai-d lever and said float, and an adjustable toggle the combination the combination of diaphragm therein, beneath said diaj connection between said lever and said gate moved variable amounts.

whereby the gate is float through equalverby movement of the tical distances.

4. In a flow regulator, the combination of a chamber, a diaphragm therein, a vertically movable gate, a float, operative connections between said gate and said float including a bell crank lever,

and means for adjusting the position of the fulcrum of said lever. 5. In a flow regulator, the combination of and vice versa.

d stream end of means including a bell crank k ing said float and gate whereby the gate .1s

a chamber, a diaphragm therein, a vertically movable gate, means on the upstream side ofsaid 4diaphragm for controlling the position of -said gate, and auxiliary means on the downstream side of said diaphragm for controlling the position ofsaid gate.

6. In a sewage flow regulator, the combination of' a chamber connecting a main and a collecting sewer, a control gate in said chamber, means controlled by the liquid level in said chamber on the upstream side of said gate for regulating the position of said gate, and auxiliary means controlled by the liquid level in said. collecting sewer for further regulating the position of said Gate.

n 7. In a sewage flow regulator, the combination of a chamber connecting a. main and a collecting sewer, a control gate in said chamber, a float on the upstream side of said gate, operative connections between said float and said gate including a bell crank lever whereby saidgate is controlled from combination of a substantially a toggle whereby the efective area of said waterway is decreasedV as the float rises 9. In aflow regulator, the combination of a diaphragm provided with a waterway, the walls of which waterway converge from top to bottom and from a point upstream to the delivery end of said waterway, a vertically movable gate disposed at the downsaid waterway a float, andV lever connectmoved to vary the eective area of said waterway inversely with relation to the movements of said float.

10. In a flow regulator, the combination of a diaphragm p)rovided with a waterway, a vertically mova le gate for controlling the effective area of said waterway, a. 'loat, operative `connections between said float and said gate, said connections including a fnlcrumed lever, and means for automatically adjusting the position of the ulcrum of said lever.

i HENRY L. MQMILLAN. 

